


Amsterdam

by areyouarealmonster



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Amsterdam, Fluff, Leonard goes all out for his dates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 23:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11301465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/areyouarealmonster/pseuds/areyouarealmonster
Summary: Leonard and Ray have been sleeping together--in both senses of the phrase--for about two months now. They're landed for the night in Amsterdam, and Leonard has something planned.





	Amsterdam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedBowBuddha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedBowBuddha/gifts).



> Prompt: Coldatom. Len is uncharacteristically tender to Ray when they manage to get time off the ship alone together. He's more open and expressive about his feelings to his bf. Basically Len gets a bit romantic and adorable in that classic kinda way that he knows Ray loves.

It’s late afternoon, quickly approaching dinner time. Or, the time that it’s normal for people to eat. Well, _regular_ people. Ray is not a regular person, nor does he eat at normal times.

 

He _eats_ , of course, but usually long after everyone else has, in the late hours of the evening. And, of course, evening is usually a relative term aboard the Waverider. There’s no such thing as a normal schedule on a time ship, not even if you tried.

 

It makes things easier for Ray, since he’s never really had a circadian rhythm, or at least not one that doctors would look at and say, “Ah, yes, this is regular and not a problem in any way, shape, or form.”

 

Oh well.

 

And since it’s the time that is rapidly approaching dinner, Ray has actually been expecting the clearing of a throat behind him, actually been expecting to turn around and see Leonard leaning against the door frame. So he doesn’t jump, he just spins and smiles wide at the other man.

 

“Hey,” Ray says. “How long have you been standing there?”

 

Leonard shrugs and walks into the room, over to Ray. He has taken, in the last few weeks, to dragging Ray to dinner with the team. It’s _nice_ , even if it pulls Ray out of his work-flow. Ray will have words with Leonard about that at some point. Probably.

 

Maybe.

 

“A few minutes,” Leonard answers, leaning over to press a light kiss to Ray’s lips. “You have _horrid_ posture, did you know?”

 

Ray takes a second to figure out what his body feels like. Oh, that’s definitely pain between his shoulder-blades, and his lower back is very unhappy. “Oh,” he says, stretching up as Leonard chuckles at him. “Yeah, ow.”

 

“Spin,” Leonard commands, and Ray obliges, turning back around to face his work station. “Don’t want you in pain for tonight,” Leonard mutters, digging his thumbs into the tight muscles of Ray’s back.

 

Ray groans in pleasure and wriggles under the firm touch, pointing out especially sore spots, before Leonard’s words sink in. “Tonight?” he asks. “What’s happening tonight?”

 

Leonard doesn’t answer for a minute, soothing a muscle spasm happening in Ray’s mid-back. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” he says, finally. “Sara says we’re docked for the night, that we’re not heading back into the time stream until tomorrow.”

 

“Really?” Ray asks, his back feeling well enough for him to grab at Leonard’s hands and wrap the other man’s arms around his torso instead.

 

“Mmm,” Leonard says, resting his chin on Ray’s shoulder. “She said that she doesn’t care if Gideon’s fabricated food is close enough to the real thing to be indistinguishable, she wants to eat, and I quote, ‘a real fucking cow.’”

 

Ray laughs, and can feel Leonard’s smile against his cheek. “And she wants to check out what Amsterdam has to offer, in terms of _coffee shops_ , you mean,” Ray says.

 

“I wouldn’t doubt that she and Jax are already on their way to sample the wares, along with a few of our other teammates, most likely,” Leonard replies. “You smell like grease and metal,” he complains as he pulls back. Ray spins again to look up at his lover as Leonard continues, “Go shower. I’ve got an outfit laid out on your bed.”

 

That piques Ray’s curiosity. “You’re picking out clothes for me now?” he asks.

 

Leonard smirks. “Just for tonight. Meet me in the cargo bay in half an hour.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s a _surprise_ , Raymond,” Leonard says, rolling his eyes. It’s an expression that Ray is now very used to: exasperated, but fondly so.

 

Ray stands up and heads out of the lab, exchanging a lingering kiss with Leonard as he leaves. Then he heads to his room, to shower and change for whatever Leonard has planned for tonight.

 

They haven’t really _gone out_ , Ray realizes. They’ve been sleeping together—in both senses of the phrase—for almost two months now, but they haven’t discussed what it is that they’re doing, and they haven’t really been on a date.

 

Ray supposes that it’s hard to _date_ on a time ship; it’s hard to go out for dinner when half the time you’re in the temporal zone, and the other half of the time you’re running around on missions, or exhausted from those very missions. Falling into bed together is all they can do, most days. And sometimes, they just immediately fall asleep in each other’s arms.

 

Whatever they’re doing, it’s still new, still tentative. Ray has been hesitant to ask Leonard to define their _relationship_ in so many words, because he’s afraid that Leonard will scoff, or laugh, or brush him off. He’d rather have this undefined arrangement than nothing, if it means he gets to curl up with Leonard at the end of the day. If it means that he can touch Leonard, kiss Leonard, hold Leonard.

 

After all, Leonard has only been back for three months after being gone—dead—for two years. It still doesn’t quite feel real, having him back. Ray has woken up sometimes in the middle of the night, terrified that it was all a dream. At least it’s been easy for him to remember that it’s true recently, since he can feel Leonard wrapped around him—or in his arms—when he wakes up. It helps.

 

He thinks back to their first kiss as he showers, scrubbing away the grime that accumulated on his skin from fiddling with his tech—

 

_Another successful mission down, and the Legends celebrated in their usual fashion: with lots and lots of booze and food. Ray would normally stay most of the night, but he was tired—Leonard had forced him to go to the med-bay after the mission, and Gideon’s healing always tires him out—so he made his excuses and headed to his room._

_Behind him, he heard Leonard making his excuses as well, and decided to wait for the other man and walk to their separate quarters together. It had nothing to do with the fact that Ray was stumbling, and would really like something—or someone—to lean on, not at all…_

_And definitely nothing to do with the fact that he wanted an excuse to touch Leonard._

_Okay, those were both lies, drunk Ray was an even worse liar than sober Ray, even to himself._

_Leonard walked out of the galley and caught sight of Ray. Instead of scowling, like Ray expected, Leonard smirked._

_“Boy scout,” he said, “you okay there?”_

_“’m a li’l drunk,” Ray said, stumbling over his words._

_Leonard laughed at him. “I can see that. You need an escort?”_

_“Prob’ly,” Ray admitted._

_“I can help with that,” Leonard said, and walked over to wrap his arm around Ray’s waist. He was quiet for a minute as he supported Ray on the walk down the curving hallway to their quarters. “You okay?” he asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence._

_Ray was bewildered by the question. He was no different than usual. And since when did Leonard check in with him?_

_Leonard seemed to pick up on the confusion because he continued, “You drank a lot tonight. Everything alright?”_

_“Uhh…”_ Had _Ray had too much to drink? Maybe. He doesn’t usually drink a lot, but he kept being handed gin and tonics by his teammates, and maybe he’d had one too many? Or two too many. Or three…his glass just kept being empty every time he looked down at it!_

_Okay, maybe he was nervous._

_Maybe he drank so fast to mask the fact that his hands shook every time Leonard glanced his way, maybe he drank so fast to hide the fact that he was exhausted and bruised and all he wanted was to curl up in Leonard’s arms and be told everything was going to be okay._

_Yikes, Ray did not like where his brain went when he was this drunk. Those were things he’d like to keep pushed way, way down, thank you very much._

_“Raymond,” Leonard said when Ray had been silent for too long, “talk to me.” He stopped. Ray was taken by surprise and fell back against the wall._

_“Oof.”_

_“You’re not answering me,” Leonard said, bracing himself with his hands on either side of Ray’s head._

_Ray looked down slightly, meeting Leonard’s eyes. “Hi.”_

_“_ Raymond _,” Leonard growled._

_“You don’t seem drunk at all,” Ray told him, indignant that Leonard was so sober and so seemingly worried about Ray. It wasn’t fair! How dare he stand so close to Ray, looking so pretty, his eyes wide and upset._

_Leonard sighed. “I’m drunk, Raymond, just not quite as drunk as you are.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“Why,” Leonard groaned, leaning down and bracing his forehead against Ray’s shoulder, “won’t you just_ talk _to me?”_

_“It’s not important,” Ray muttered, his eyes lingering on the curve of Leonard’s neck._

_Leonard lifted his head, looking Ray straight in the eyes. “It is to me.”_

_Ray’s mouth dropped open. “Why?” he asked, before he could think better of it._

_“Oh, Raymond,” Leonard said, lifting a hand up off the wall and cupping Ray’s face with it instead. He opened his mouth, maybe to say something, but closed it again._

_They were still looking into each other’s eyes. Ray wasn’t really sure if he was reading it right, but Leonard’s expression seemed to be searching, curious, open. More open than Ray had never seen it. And he was stroking Ray’s cheekbone with his thumb, brushing against the skin in wide arcs._

_At a certain point, though, it stopped mattering. Ray was too drunk to hold himself back, Leonard’s hand felt too good against his face to not lean into it, and their faces were too close together for Ray to not tilt forward and close the distance left between them. He kissed Leonard,_ kissed _him, and Leonard kissed back. Leonard tasted like the whiskey he’d been drinking, smooth and bitter, with a soft undercurrent of what Ray thought might be mint._

_Leonard’s mouth opened at the press of Ray’s tongue, and Leonard leaned in even more, pressing their bodies together. They stood there for a minute, making out. Ray was comfortably crushed between Leonard and the wall until Leonard pulled back, panting, and rested his forehead against Ray’s._

_“Usually, I’d have no qualms about taking you back to my room and having my way with you,” Leonard muttered, his voice raw, his breath warm against Ray’s lips, “but I’d rather be sober for this. For_ you _, in particular.”_

_Ray swallowed and nodded. “I’d prefer that too,” he said, his voice slightly less slurred than it had been before. He felt himself slowly sobering up, but it wasn’t going to be fast enough for anything more to happen between him and Leonard tonight._

_“I’m glad you kissed me though,” Leonard admitted, softly. His drawl was gone, Ray noticed. It was probably significant, but Ray’s head had started to spin. “Wanna pick this up tomorrow night?” he asked, as he pulled Ray off the wall._

_“Yeah,” Ray responded, slightly in disbelief. Maybe this was all a dream, maybe he was just so drunk that it felt real, maybe…_

_But Leonard was solid against him, warm through the knit fabric of his navy sweater, and that was enough to convince Ray that this was real._

_Suddenly, they were in front of Ray’s room and, wow, Ray was still really drunk._

_“You gonna be okay getting to sleep?” Leonard asked, tentatively letting go of Ray._

_Ray nodded, not sure at all, but he didn’t want Leonard to worry about him._

_Then Leonard_ smiled _and Ray almost fell over._

_“Woah, steady,” Leonard said, and laughed, actually_ laughed _! “If I’d known smiling at you would cause you to fall over, I’d’ve done it more.”_

_“You’re stunning,” Ray told him, in wonderment._

_Leonard’s smile grew even more. “Flatterer.” He leaned up, pressed a light kiss against Ray’s lips, and stepped back to let Ray open the door to his own room. “Goodnight,_ gorgeous _.”_

_“Goodnight,” Ray repeated, and stumbled into his room to pass out, fully clothed, on top of his sheets._

Ray finishes showering and puts on the suit Leonard had laid out for him, smiling at the memory. They had, in fact, picked it up the next night, and the night after, and the night after that. It had _definitely_ been worth waiting until they were both sober.

 

The suit Leonard chose for him to wear is lovely, and Ray admires it in the mirror. The pants are black, perfectly fitted—of course, because Gideon knows their sizes—and the shirt is a soft white. The jacket is the stand-out: deep maroon, with a subtle flower pattern.

 

Leonard knows how much Ray loves flowers. It’s sweet, touching, that Leonard pays so much attention to what Ray likes. It’s _addicting_. Leonard certainly does pay attention, and Ray is constantly surprised and flattered at what Leonard notices and brings up later.

 

Ray finishes off the look with a dash of cologne—earthy and slightly sweet—and heads out to meet Leonard in the cargo bay. He’s curious about what Leonard has planned for the evening. The suit is barely a hint: it could be anything.

 

When he gets to the cargo bay, Leonard is already there, wearing a complementary flower-patterned suit jacket in deep blue, with pants that match in color, if not pattern. He looks _lovely_ , and Ray tells him as much.

 

“Flatterer,” Leonard teases, but leans up to kiss Ray anyway. “Mmm, you look great, you smell great.”

 

Ray beams at him. “Thanks! You do too but, well, I mean, you always do. Look and smell amazing, I mean.”

 

Leonard laughs. “You ready?”

 

“For anything,” Ray replies. Leonard holds out his arm, and Ray loops his hand through it, fingers curled around Leonard’s forearm. They walk out of the Waverider together—the ship is parked in a construction zone along a pier, away from prying eyes. The area is quiet and still, but things pick up quickly as the two of them head into the heart of the city.

 

They take a meandering route initially. Leonard seems to know where he’s going, and Ray is content to just hold onto his arm and look around at the city. They didn’t get much of a chance to sightsee while embroiled in the mission, but now Ray has his chance to do so.

 

“I’ve never been to Amsterdam before,” he muses, his eyes wide as he takes in as much as he can of the beautiful brick buildings and the houseboats in the canals.

 

“I have,” Leonard says. When Ray looks at him in confusion, he explains, “I left Central City for a few years, when Lisa was old enough to come with me and, uh, _help_.”

 

“Help?—oh!” Ray realizes that Leonard came to Amsterdam to _thieve_.

 

“Yeah,” Leonard says, chuckling. “I won’t tell you the details, I’m sure that would hurt your _delicate sensibilities_ —” Ray snorts— “but Lis’ and I spent a good few months here, so I’m pretty familiar with the lay of the land. We’ve been to a lot of cities: Amsterdam, London, Prague, Krakow, Paris, Florence…” He trails off, a wistful expression on his face.

 

“Thinking of priceless artifacts you burgled?” Ray asks, unable to keep his mouth shut.

 

Leonard laughs, a beautiful sound. “Maybe,” he admits. “Maybe I’ll tell you, one day.”

 

“I’d like that,” Ray says.

 

“Yeah?” Leonard asks, glancing up at him. “No lectures on misappropriating others’ property?”

 

Ray shrugs. “It’s in the past. I’ve definitely done things in the past that you would love to lecture me on.”

 

“You do things in the present that I _do_ lecture you on,” Leonard reminds him.

 

“Oh, yeah,” Ray says, grinning. It’s true, Leonard loves to lecture: Ray doesn’t eat enough, Ray doesn’t sleep enough, Ray doesn’t take care of himself, Ray refuses to go to the med-bay when he’s injured, Ray talks with his mouth full, Ray doesn’t shut up when Leonard is trying to sleep, Ray continuously uses techno-babble even though he _knows_ Leonard doesn’t understand it…the list goes on.

 

They turn a corner and see Sara, Amaya, Jax, Nate, and Mick through the windows of a coffee shop with a creepy clown motif as its logo. Ray drags Leonard over to knock on the window. The five of them look up, each with a joint in hand, and alternate between waving back at Ray (Nate, Jax, and Amaya) and rolling their eyes at him (Sara and Mick).

 

Leonard nods at their teammates and then drags Ray away. “This is _our_ night,” he says.

 

Ray beams. “I like the sound of that.”

 

They walk quietly along the canal for a while, the lights reflecting off the water as dusk slowly slips into evening.

 

“Do you speak any Dutch?” Ray asks, after trying to parse together words from various signs.

 

“Some,” Leonard says, shrugging. “Enough to get by. You know, the usual: ‘hello,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ all that. I can carry a conversation. Or, I could, years ago. Not sure about now.”

 

“That’s cool!”

 

Leonard hums, his eyes flicking up to Ray’s face briefly. “I know enough to get by in a few languages. Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese are all close enough to each other that I can figure them out, once I get into the groove of which one I’m speaking. Same with Dutch and German. French, I can do. I think that’s it. Polish and Czech are too weird, couldn’t get the hang of them while I was in Krakow and Prague.”

 

“Wow,” Ray says, stunned. “That’s _hot_.”

 

Leonard lets out a shocked laugh. “Yeah?” he asks.

 

“ _Yeah_ ,” Ray assures him.

 

“I didn’t know you had such a thing for languages, Raymond,” Leonard says, a laugh behind his words.

 

“I do when I find out the guy I’m—uh, sleeping with can speak, like, _seven_ languages.” Ray stumbles over the middle of the sentence, still unsure of what to call their…whatever it is they’re doing.

 

“Not fluently,” Leonard points out.

 

Ray shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Still hot, you can’t take that away from me.”

 

“I wouldn’t _dream_ of it, darling,” Leonard drawls, a smile playing over his lips. Ray stops them and pulls Leonard over to the side of the street so he can kiss the smile off the other man’s mouth.

 

Leonard melts against him, and Ray can still feel a smile against his lips. Ray is smiling, too.

 

The kiss deepens only slightly before Leonard pulls back. “We have reservations,” he says, sounding almost regretful. “We can’t be late or they’ll take our table away.”

 

Ray nods and lets Leonard lead him on, continuing down the street.

 

“I’m glad we’re in a place where I can kiss you,” Leonard muses, as they cross a bridge. “Not many places, even when we’re from, where I could do that. Since, you know, the whole gay and interracial thing.”

 

“Yeah,” Ray agrees. “I’m glad Sara picked here and now to stick around for the night. It’s nice to be able to be open with, uh, with this. With _us_.”

 

They walk another few minutes in comfortable silence before Leonard stops them in front of a purple awning. “This is it,” he says, and leads Ray inside. He says a few words in what Ray can only assume is Dutch to the host at the front.

 

The host nods, says something back in what Ray definitely believes is Dutch, and leads them back outside to the empty table in front of the restaurant.

 

“Is this okay?” Leonard asks. “I thought it would be nice to sit outside, since it’s gorgeous out, and we can enjoy the scenery.”

 

“It’s perfect,” Ray replies, looking around. The view across from them isn’t much to look at, but Ray can look down the street and see lovely old buildings. People ride past on bikes, wander past alone or in groups, speaking loudly in a variety of languages and accents. “Yeah,” he says, “I love it.”

 

They sit down and are handed menus. Ray stares at his for a few seconds before realizing that he has no idea what anything says. “Uh, Leonard?” he asks, looking up at the other man.

 

Leonard smirks and leans across the table, pointing at things on the menu and translating. “That’s fish—salmon, I think. That’s beef, pork, chicken. More fish: a whitefish. That, that, and that are scallops, squid, and octopus.”

 

“And what’s on them?” Ray asks, peering at the unfamiliar language, full of way too many vowels.

 

Leonard shrugs, looking unconcerned. “That’s the fun of it,” he replies.

 

“But what if something has—”

 

“They know you’re allergic to gluten,” Leonard says, off-hand. “I made sure to mention it in the reservation and again, when we walked in, to the host. I’ll tell our waiter, too, so they can make sure. But this isn’t a place that’s really big on bread.”

 

Ray stares at him, stunned.

 

“What?” Leonard asks.

 

“Nothing, just…” Ray trails off. Everyone else on the Waverider jokes about his gluten allergy, and he knows they don’t really believe him about it.

 

“Allergies aren’t a joke,” Leonard says quietly, as if he knows what Ray is thinking. “I’d rather this night _not_ end in you vomiting into a canal because you ate something your body couldn’t process. I know what Celiac does to a body, it’s not pleasant.” He reaches out and takes Ray’s hand, softly stroking the sensitive skin on the underside of Ray’s wrist.

 

It’s so _thoughtful_ , so _caring_ , and Ray is speechless. It’s such a small thing, really, but it just shows Leonard’s attention to detail, shows that he really notices what goes on with Ray. Shows that he _cares_.

 

The waiter appears, asking for their orders, and Leonard takes his hand back and asks if Ray needs more time to figure out what he wants to eat.

 

Ray is just too overwhelmed to think about any of the odd, fancy food on the menu, so he just tells Leonard to order for him. Leonard smirks at him, and starts conversing in Dutch with the waiter, even though the waiter mentions, in English, that he also speaks English.

 

Leonard’s voice sounds different in another language. Ray finds himself listening closely, trying to make sense of the words. He can’t, so he just lets the sound wash over him. Even in another language, Leonard drawls, and it makes Ray smile.

 

When the waiter leaves them, after scribbling an alarmingly large number of things down, Ray asks, “Did you just do that to impress me?”

 

Leonard winks. “Absolutely. Did it work?”

 

“Yeah,” Ray admits. It _was_ hot, and oh man, Ray is never going to get over how many languages Leonard can speak. “Have you always been good at languages?” he asks, after the waiter comes back with a bottle of red wine and pours them each a glass.

 

“I don’t know,” Leonard says, shrugging. “Never got the chance to really take any classes when I was younger. My mother knew Hebrew—she was Jewish—so I can read a bit of that. That was the only other language I had any interactions with growing up. Can’t translate it though.”

 

“You’re Jewish?” Ray asks. He knew that Leonard’s mom was Black, so Leonard is mixed-race, but he didn’t know she was also Jewish.

 

“Yeah, technically,” Leonard says, his eyes downcast. “Never had much of an opportunity to make it a real part of my life, unfortunately. I like a lot of aspects of it. I would have like to have…well, no use whining about it now.”

 

“No,” Ray insists, “you can tell me. I wanna know.”

 

Leonard sighs. “It’s just another thing I get to hate about my childhood. I’m not religious, and I’m not sure I ever would have been, but there’s something about Judaism that feels more right than anything else. The cultural aspects. Never got the chance, though, ‘cause my mom left when I was just a kid.”

 

“Lisa—” Ray starts, but Leonard shakes his head, his eyes still fixed on the table.

 

“She’s my half-sister. Different moms. Her mom left us, too. Lewis scared everyone away.” Leonard sounds bitter, and Ray’s heart goes out to him.

 

Ray reaches out, rests his hand on Leonard’s thigh. “I’m sorry.”

 

Leonard inhales through his nose—Ray can see his chest rise—and then looks up. He seems to shed, the raw emotion pouring off him like rain on glass. It hurts, watching Leonard push his feelings down and away.

 

It feels too familiar.

 

“Leonard,” Ray says, “I don’t know—I don’t really know what we are to each other, but I want you to know you can tell me anything. Please don’t feel like you have to, like you have to hide parts of yourself. I—I want to know you, _all_ of you.”

 

“You might not like what you find,” Leonard says quietly, his voice lacking that drawl Ray knows so well.

 

“Maybe not,” Ray admits. “But I might surprise you.” He hopes it’s true.

 

Leonard seems to think it’s true, because the corners of his lips curl up slightly. It’s not a happy smile, but it’s _something_. “You always do, Raymond,” he says.

 

The first course arrives, and Ray pulls his hand back off Leonard’s leg to move his wine glass out of the way.

 

“What is this?” Ray asks, examining the small portion. There’s some sort of fish, a sprig of something green, and some orange sauce.

 

“No idea,” Leonard says. “Try it.”

 

Ray does. It’s weird. The flavors shouldn’t make sense together, but somehow they do. It’s _delicious_. Ray says as much past the food still in his mouth.

 

“Raymond, this is a fancy place, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Leonard scolds gently, his mood lightening with every passing second.

 

“Sorry,” Ray says, after he swallows. “It’s really good.”

 

“It is, isn’t it?”

 

They finish that course quickly, and the next one, and the one after that, until they’re almost full to bursting. Everything is weird, and everything is strangely spectacular. It’s probably the most fun Ray has ever had eating. He has no idea what half of the things are that he puts in his mouth, but it doesn’t matter.

 

Leonard explains some things, but he’s just as mystified as Ray for the most part. He is clearly enjoying himself, though; Ray can tell from the soft smiles, the warm glances, the jokes.

 

Then it’s time for dessert. At least it’s partially recognizable as chocolate cake—flourless chocolate cake, Leonard is quick to assure him—even though there are all sorts of other random things scattered around the plate.

 

Once the plate is settled down and the waiter has once again disappeared, Ray reaches for one of the spoons. Leonard stops him. Instead, Leonard collects a bit of everything together on his spoon, and holds it out to Ray. Leonard clearly wants to _feed_ it to Ray, and that’s so cheesy, and Ray _adores_ it.

 

He feels himself blushing as he leans forward, his eyes on Leonard, to wrap his mouth around the spoon. Leonard’s expression is shy, almost embarrassed, but there’s determination there as well. The chocolate hits Ray’s tongue, along with the sweet bite of passion fruit, and a hint of spice.

 

Ray isn’t sure which he likes more: the now-cheeky grin on Leonard’s face, or the taste of the dessert. He’s going to go with Leonard’s smile, even though the cake is delicious.

 

“I’m—that was—” Ray’s face feels hot, and Leonard laughs at him.

 

“Go on, you can feed yourself now,” Leonard says. “I just—I thought you might like that.”

 

“I did,” Ray admits, matching Leonard’s wide smile. “It was sweet, and I don’t just mean the dessert.”

 

Leonard rolls his eyes, but with his lips still turned up, so Ray knows Leonard isn’t actually annoyed. They dig into the rest of the dessert. When it’s about halfway gone, Leonard speaks up again.

 

“Is this a satisfactory first date so far?”

 

Ray looks up from the plate. “First date?” he asks. He’d assumed as much, but having some concrete answers would be nice, too.

 

“Well, you said before that you don’t know what we are to each other, and that’s true. We haven’t discussed it. I wanted to take you out, so that we—so that we _could_ discuss it.” Leonard’s words are steady, but he avoids meeting Ray’s eyes. “It just seems like we haven’t really had _time_ , before.”

 

Ray chuckles. “For time travelers, we definitely hadn’t had enough time, you’re right.”

 

“Say that a little louder, Raymond,” Leonard teases, glancing up briefly to see if anyone overheard Ray’s comment.

 

“Sorry, keep going,” Ray says, curious to see where Leonard is taking this.

 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Leonard says, looking down again, “I was wondering, uh, what you wanted. From this.”

 

“From us?” Ray asks. Leonard nods, his eyes flicking up to Ray’s and back down again. He’s uncharacteristically shy, reserved, and Ray thinks he might be nervous. Ray is a little nervous, too. He hopes that what they each want from this lines up.

 

Ray hopes Leonard wants this to work as much as he does.

 

Nothing to do but say what he wants, and hope it’s what Leonard wants. “I’d like to make this official. Like, dating—I’d like to be dating you. Not casually.”

 

“I don’t think you’ve ever done anything casually in your life,” Leonard mutters, but he meets Ray’s eyes again. He clears his throat. “Yeah,” he says, “I’d like that, too.”

 

Ray lets out a sigh of relief. “So we’re on the same page?”

 

“Looks like,” Leonard says, looking relieved as well. “Boyfriends?” he asks, tentatively.

 

Ray nods. “Boyfriends,” he confirms, and smiles wide. Leonard smiles back, looking comforted. Ray realized that he must have planned that conversation into this event, and how he must have been worried if it would go well. If it hadn’t gone well…it did, though, so Leonard must be pleased and satisfied.

 

Leonard stretches his leg out, rests it against Ray’s. Yeah, he’s definitely pleased. His grin is threatening to overtake his face, and Ray can’t take his eyes off the expression. He’s seen Leonard smile before, but never like this—never this wide.

 

Ray knows he’s glowing as well—his face is flushed and a warm feeling is settling in his chest. It’s been really nice, being with Leonard over the past couple of months, but it’s even nicer to have a _name_ to put to it. They’re in a _relationship_ , and Ray is so, so glad. It’s what he’s wanted, from their very first drunken kiss. From before that, actually.

 

It’s what Ray has wanted, ever since they got Leonard back. Ever since he saw Leonard back alive, and realized that Leonard’s absence was the cause of that aching gap in his heart. Ever since he laid eyes on Leonard, alive again, and thought, ‘Oh, _you’re_ what I’ve been missing.’

 

So to be here, now, in an official relationship—that’s everything Ray’s been hoping for in the last few months, and he’s ecstatic.

 

The check comes and Leonard throws down a large stack of euros.

 

“Where did those come from?” Ray asks.

 

“Gideon, of course,” Leonard says, as if it should be obvious.

 

Well, it’s not like they haven’t gotten printed-up money from Gideon in other time periods, but something feels a little weird to Ray about doing it in 2017. “Introducing counterfeit money into circulation?” he whispers across the table.

 

Leonard shrugs. “Not sure it’s distinguishable from the real thing,” he mutters back, and then continues slightly louder: “Anyway, it’s not as if I haven’t done _that_ before.”

 

“ _Leonard_ ,” Ray hisses. Leonard just smirks.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re shocked by that. I just told you that I went on a thieving trip through Europe with my sister and you didn’t blink an eye, why is this any different?”

 

“Uh…” Ray doesn’t have an answer for that.

 

“That’s what I thought,” Leonard says and stands up, holding out a hand for Ray to take. “On to the next part of our date,” he says, as Ray stands up and threads their fingers together.

 

“There’s a next part?” Ray asks, curious.

 

“Of course,” Leonard tells him. “I’m not a fucking amateur here.” He grins, wide and amused.

 

“You’re not?” Ray asks. “You’ve done this before?”

 

“Well,” Leonard admits, “not really planning _dates_ before, but planning in general is kinda my thing.”

 

Ray laughs and lets Leonard lead him back through the streets of Amsterdam, walking along the canal again until Leonard stops and leads Ray over to the edge.

 

“What—?” Ray asks, but Leonard silences him with a look.

 

Leonard goes up to a man and says something in Dutch. The man nods and greets them before leading them over to a ladder down into a boat. Ray keeps his mouth shut, with difficulty, but after a minute he doesn’t need to ask anymore because the man is pushing the boat away from the wall of the canal and setting it on a course.

 

It’s full dark out, multi-colored lights reflecting across the surface of the deep green water. Leonard sits back against the seat at the rear of the boat and pulls Ray close against his side. Ray snuggles up, enjoying the warmth radiating off his boyfriend, in contrast with the cool night air.

 

“Thought you might like a boat tour of the city,” Leonard explains finally, as they cruise through the water.

 

“It’s perfect,” Ray responds, turning his head to press a light kiss to Leonard’s cheek. In the city lights he sees Leonard smile sweetly, eyes flicking over to meet Ray’s. Leonard turns his head to follow his gaze, leaning in to kiss Ray. It’s a light kiss, barely a press of their lips together, but Ray feels it through his entire body. “Perfect,” he repeats, their faces barely an inch apart.

 

Leonard laughs lightly, and pulls back to start pointing out places of interest. He knows a lot about the city, more than Ray would have expected. When Ray asks how he knows so much, Leonard smirks.

 

“It’s good to know all the escape routes,” he says, with a wink.

 

“You’re still not gonna tell me about your, your _adventures_ here?” Ray asks.

 

“Adventures?” Leonard repeats, mirth clear in his tone. “You mean _thievery_.”

 

“Yeah, okay, sure,” Ray responds, grinning.

 

“Hmm,” Leonard says, considering. “Not yet, I think. That’s more of a five-years-together conversation, not a sleeping-together-for-two-months-and-just-started-officially-dating conversation.”

 

“Five years?” Ray asks, his heart soaring. He wants this to last, but he wasn’t sure about Leonard’s long-term plans. Ray plans for the future, maybe over-plans, but he doesn’t expect anyone else to do the same. He’s always been the one more invested in his relationships, after all. Except for Anna, but, well…

 

“If we’re both still alive,” Leonard concedes. “But,” he looks at Ray, “I don’t—I don’t start things like this, Raymond. I don’t _date_ unless…unless it’s someone I can see having, well, having a future with.” He stammers over his words slightly, and Ray snuggles up closer to reassure his boyfriend wordlessly.

 

“I want a future with you, too,” Ray says, trying to put as much sincerity in his tone as he possibly can. “And, hey,” he says, “Legends never die, right?”

 

Leonard snorts. “You and Sara _say_ that, but I seem to recall that _I_ died.”

 

“But you’re here now!” Ray insists.

 

“I _died_ , though, Raymond. So you can’t say that Legends never die when I _died_ , darling.” Leonard’s tone is light, but Ray can tell he’s still serious.

 

Ray doesn’t agree, though. “No,” he says, trying to convince his boyfriend, “the whole point is that you’re here now. You’re back. So it was only, like, a temporary thing.”

 

“We can’t live forever,” Leonard says, but Ray shakes his head.

 

“We don’t age in the temporal zone,” Ray explains, “and we’re in there most of the time. So, I mean, maybe we won’t live forever, but we definitely have more time than normal people.”

 

“That’s _if_ we’re not killed on a mission,” Leonard reminds him.

 

Ray shrugs. “It’s fine, Gideon has brought Sara back to life before.”

 

“Raymond, I don’t _want_ to be immortal,” Leonard says. “I don’t want to live forever. Do you?”

 

Ray considers it for a minute. He hasn’t really thought about it. He definitely wouldn’t want to be immortal in the traditional sense, of living time linearly. But spending eternity with the Legends…he’s not sure if that would be a good or a bad thing, not sure if they’ll want to kill each other after a few years—or whatever a few years is when time is irrelevant—together on the Waverider.

 

“I don’t know,” he finally admits. “I guess I’ll just take it day by day, and see how I feel.”

 

Leonard hums and looks away, glancing off into the distance. “Sounds like a plan.”

 

Ray rests his head on Leonard’s shoulder, watching the city pass by. His mind wanders back to Leonard, planning a future with him. He hadn’t dared to hope—hadn’t dared to even wish for it. But here they are, embarking on this together.

 

The boat pulls up to the side of the canal, in front of a brick archway. Clean white letters announce it as ‘The Grand.’ A man in a uniform stands there, waiting to greet them.

 

“What’s this?” Ray asks, as he and Leonard climb out of the boat.

 

“Welcome to The Grand,” the man says, in heavily accented English. “Are you staying with us this evening?”

 

“We are,” Leonard confirms, and pulls a key card out of his pocket. “I’ve already checked in.”

 

“Wonderful,” the man replies. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”

 

Leonard shakes his head. “We’re all set, thanks.” He leads Ray away, through the archway and into the courtyard.

 

“What’s going on?” Ray asks. “Are we not going back to the ship tonight?”

 

“We’re not,” Leonard replies, “I hope that’s okay. I just thought it might be nice to be out of those minuscule pathetic excuses for beds on the Waverider for a night.”

 

“So you got us a hotel room?” Ray asks, letting Leonard lead him through the bright, sparkling lobby.

 

“Not just any hotel room,” Leonard replies as they step into the elevator and he slips his key card into the slot on the wall. “The _royal suite_.” He looks extremely proud of himself, and Ray feels excitement running through him.

 

“That sounds fancy,” Ray says, unable to keep the grin off his face. “I’d ask how you’re affording this but—”

 

“—Gideon.”

 

“Yeah, Gideon,” Ray finishes.

 

“Even without that, well…” Leonard trails off, considering his next words. He seems to make a decision, because he continues, “I’m not saying I’d drop as much money on a room if it were my own money, but I could definitely afford this with what I have stashed away in various places around the world.”

 

The elevator doors ding open as Ray is processing that, and all thoughts of Leonard’s accumulated (thieved) wealth fly out of his head because the room is _huge_. “Woah,” he says, stepping out into it. Leonard follows a step behind him, looking unfazed.

 

The main room is a sitting room that could be an entire apartment, and is maybe the size of three bedrooms on the Waverider put together. It’s filled with gorgeous, comfortable-looking furniture and Ray runs a hand along one of the chairs as he walks past, feeling the soft material under his hand.

 

He walks through the open door at the other end of the room, passing the opulent bathroom on his way into the bedroom. The bed is huge— _way_ larger than either of their beds on the ship—and is still dwarfed by the size of the bedroom itself. Ray turns, noticing a staircase leading up to an exposed loft that contains a fancy writing desk and chair.

 

Ray is no stranger to wealth—after all, he’d been a billionaire CEO before he ‘died.’ Money doesn’t impress him much. So he’s not stunned by the fact that this room must cost a few thousand euros a night, it’s more that he’s overwhelmed that Leonard went to such lengths to create this evening for him.

 

It’s the fact that, in the past, _Ray_ has been the one to go all out to try to impress the person he was interested in. Nobody’s ever done anything like this for _him_.

 

He turns to Leonard, noting that Leonard’s expression has changed from pleased to calculating and curious. “Do you like it?”

 

No, Ray _loves_ it. He strides forward, crossing the room in only a few long steps to kiss Leonard, cupping the other man’s face in his hands. “It’s perfect,” Ray murmurs against Leonard’s lips. “Perfect—” he drags Leonard over to the bed— “perfect.”

 

Then he shows Leonard _exactly_ how much he likes it.

 

A while later, they’re curled up in bed together, catching their breath. Ray’s head rests on Leonard’s chest as Leonard runs his fingers through Ray’s hair. “Raymond?” Leonard asks, quietly.

 

“Mmm?” Ray replies, sleepily snuggling closer against his boyfriend.

 

“You, uh—” Leonard swallows, sounding nervous.

 

That catches Ray’s attention and he lifts himself up, propping up on his arms, so he can look down at Leonard. “Yes, dear?”

 

Leonard snorts at the pet name, relaxing slightly. He reaches a hand up to caress Ray’s face. “You make me happy,” he says, his voice quiet—with absolutely no trace of his normal drawl.

 

Ray beams, leaning down briefly to press a light kiss against Leonard’s lips. “You make me happy, too,” he says. Leonard smiles back, his hand still stroking Ray’s cheek.

 

Maybe they’ll live forever, maybe they won’t. But at least they have each other, for as long as they can hold onto this. And if it lasts forever, well, Ray can only hope for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Ruth for beta-ing, ilu <3


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